June 28, 2006

Remember the 1980s, when greed was good? At least it was according to a fictional movie character.

Well, thank you Warren Buffett, a real person living in 2006 in Omaha, Neb. You've helped change perceptions about wealth -- you and Paul and Joanne Newman, and Bill and Melinda Gates.

I kicked around a couple of ideas about how to portray Buffett and his vast influence. I didn't like any of them and then I remembered that investors call him "the oracle of Omaha."

Oracle or guru, it works in cartoonland. I immediately saw him on top of a mountain, yuppies struggling to climb up there for his words of wisdom. I was going to include Bill and Melinda Gates in the cartoon, but decided this is Buffett's day. He's the one giving the 30 bil.

This cartoon gives me the opportunity to draw Buffett's caricature, which is always fun. He's easy to draw with his big glasses, round nose, and unruly white hair and I love his peaceful, benevolent face. I can't imagine him being angry.

I used to think that the face of God must look like cartoonist Mort Walker. Now, I think there's a little Warren Buffett in there too.